Jaschon Baumann pulled off “the win of the season” to keep Coupeville’s hopes of repeating as league champs alive for an extra hour. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
Coupeville High School boys tennis coach Ken Stange has been doing this gig for a long time — 25 seasons over 13 years — but Thursday afternoon he rode the roller-coaster of feelings in a way rarely seen.
One second, he was bouncing with joy, high-fiving his players as he sprinted by.
The next, he was hunched over, trying to mentally will his netters through every gut-wrenching point.
Flashes of irritation tempered by another explosion of fist-pumping ecstasy.
And, finally, hard-earned acceptance, as Coupeville’s run at a third-straight Olympic League title ended by the narrowest of margins.
Even then, though, a flush of pride on his cheeks as the last two players on the court, young guns Zach Ginnings and Drake Borden, rallied to pull out a final win even after the day’s second team match, and the title, were lost.
“We did not go down easy!,” Stange softly muttered, and then he wryly smiled and went off to finally have some dinner after one of the longest, and most action-packed days, in CHS tennis history.
Thanks to an earlier match being rained out, the Wolves and visiting Klahowya played two matches in one day Thursday (using pro sets instead of the normal best two-of-three-sets format), and the stakes couldn’t have been higher.
Lose both, or split, and Coupeville’s two-year run as the big dog was over.
Sweep the day and, barring a complete collapse against league doormat Chimacum in the coming days and the Wolves would howl one more time.
With action hopping on four courts at once, both coaches juggling their lineups (and Stange giving his own impassioned version of a “Win one for the Gipper” speech at the start), things got wild.
In the opening match, junior Jaschon Baumann played his heart out at #3 singles, tipping the scales in favor of Coupeville and cinching a 4-3 win.
“The win of the day! The win of the year! The win of your life!!,” thundered a jubilant Stange as he came dangerously close to grabbing Baumann and carrying him over his head, Rocky-style, through the parking lot.
With that victory, the Wolves joined 2A North Kitsap, an undefeated juggernaut, as the only schools to knock off Klahowya in 12 matches this season.
It also ramped up the stakes on the day’s second match, and the two squads went at it in a pitched battle, as fans, including Coupeville football players stopping by after practice to root for their classmates, bounced from court to court.
In the end, Klahowya’s depth — it features last year’s fourth-place finisher at the state tourney and a pair of brothers who spent the past four years honing their tennis game in England — was too much.
A win at #2 doubles, which came down to a nerve-wracking tiebreaker, carried the day as the Eagles rebounded for their own 4-3 win.
With the split, KSS (4-1 in league play, 11-2 overall) recaptures the conference title it last won in 2014.
Coupeville, which sits at 2-2, 3-6, has four matches left, including two league tilts with Chimacum, then will host the conference tourney Oct. 21.
Complete Thursday results:
Match 1:
1st Singles — Tiger Johnson lost to Taylor Fite 8-0
2nd Singles — Nile Lockwood lost to Jacob Kraft 8-0
3rd Singles — Jaschon Baumann beat Drew Kraft 8-4
1st Doubles — William Nelson/Joey Lippo beat Morgan Seidel/William Stewart 8-0
2nd Doubles — Nick Etzell/Mason Grove lost to Joe Bowman/Nick Hytinen 8-6
3rd Doubles — Jakobi Baumann/Pedro Gamorra beat Parker Short/Carson Short 8-5
4th Doubles — Drake Borden/Zach Ginnings beat Dominic Westland/Cameron Johnson 8-4
Match 2:
1st Singles — T. Johnson lost to Fite 8-0
2nd Singles — Lockwood lost to J. Kraft 8-2
3rd Singles — Jas. Baumann lost to D. Kraft 8-1
1st Doubles — Lippo/Etzell lost to Seidel/Stewart 9-8(9-7)
2nd Doubles — Nelson/Grove beat Bowman/Hytinen 9-7
3rd Doubles — Jak. Baumann/Gamorra beat P. Short/C. Short 8-4
4th Doubles — Ginnings/Borden beat Westland/C. Johnson 8-6
